i wish i had a window seat with lots of pillows that i could sit in and drink tea and read books in and watch the rain in
“It's taboo to admit that you're lonely. You can make jokes about it, of course. You can tell people that you spend most of your time with Netflix or that you haven't left the house today and you might not even go outside tomorrow. But rarely do you ever tell people about the true depths of your loneliness, about how you feel more and more alienated from your friends each passing day and you're not sure how to fix it. It seems like everyone is just better at living than you are. A part of you knew this was going to happen. Growing up, you just had this feeling that you wouldn't transition well to adult life, that you'd fall right through the cracks. And look at you now, it's happening.”
You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love-I love-I love you. Pride & Prejudice (2005) dir. Joe Wright
go cloud-gazing, lay down in the grass on a sunny day, or empty roads on a rainy day, stare up at the sky and let your mind wander.
read a book so complex that you don't understand anything, fill your arms with scrawled definitions.
writing poems and notes of kindness, hiding them for other people to find and pass along!
read passages of love in another language, untranslated and realise that love can surpass even the greatest of barriers.
find your favourite flower! hunt for it, research it, write an essay on why you love it and how much it means to you!
buy another copy of your favourite book, fill the pages with annotations and give it to a second hand shop for somebody else to experience it the way that you do.
fill a journal with moments of your life, even if you don't think they're very interesting.
listen to music whilst looking at the moon and stars, realising how beautiful life is.
visit an art gallery or a museum near you. become familiar with it, visit it until you know it inside out. make it your special place.
learn the little things about people, including yourself. find their favourite colour and why, find their music taste, their taste in books until you know them perfectly.
the small things! taking sips of warm beverages becomes the most comforting thing, closing your eyes for a moment on a bus and focusing on the lull of movement.
bake/cook your favourite treat. experiment and find the way that makes it taste simply ethereal.
The Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1944–1947
i think the funniest and realist thing i’ve realized lately is how troubling idealization can be. every person is just… a person. the very people you want to impress or be apart of are just people. even if they seem wildly intimidating because of the way they look or because of their reputation, every one is just a person. human. as embarrassing, as remorseful and they are going through stages of growth just like you are. we only see what we want to see and then drown ourselves further in our own depression and we don’t have to.
Instagram: peculiaracademics
Note to self: you are no less intellectual for not reading a book a week. You are tired. You deserve a break and it's okay if it's a long one 🖤
So, if you are too tired to speak, sit next to me for I, too, am fluent in silence.
R. Arnold
i want to be so kind it echoes backwards in time and undoes the things that hurt you. i want to be so kind it radiates from me. i want to be so kind that i make someone else find faith in humanity again. there’s not much i can do, i’m small and weak and i only know so many words. but i know i can be kind. and sometimes, i believe, that changes the world.
"Life is so largely eating and sleeping and going places without ever getting there."
– Sylvia Plath